Smart Utility Metering & Billing Hub

Principal workflows

• Collect and validate: Interval and register reads arrive from your meter head-end systems. Each read is checked for gaps, spikes, reverse flow and stopped registers before it is used for billing.
• Detect: As validated reads arrive, the Hub looks for continuous flow that suggests a leak, meters that have stopped, possible tampering, and groups of meters that stop reporting together, which may indicate an outage.
• Bill: Validated usage is rated under the customer's rate schedule, including time-of-use periods, tiers, fixed charges and taxes, and the bill run is reviewed before bills are issued.
• Serve customers: Customers see their usage by day or hour, their bills and any leak or high-use alert in a portal. Staff handle disputes and adjustments from one account view.

Who uses it

• Municipal water, electric and combined utilities and the city departments that run them
• Utility billing and customer service managers and staff
• Meter operations and field service teams
• Utility finance and rate analysts who implement approved rates
• Auditors, elected officials and residents who need clear, consistent billing records

Reporting

• Read validation results and open exceptions by cycle
• Possible leaks, stopped meters and communication failures by area
• Bill run summaries and held bills
• Billed consumption and revenue by rate class
• Adjustments and disputes by reason
• Rate change history and impact test results

Features

• Meter data validation: Rules for gaps, spikes, zero use, reverse flow and meter changes, with every estimate marked and the method recorded.
• Leak and continuous-use alerts: Accounts with use that never drops to zero over the period you set are flagged for staff review and, if you choose, for a customer alert.
• Outage and communication flags: Meters that stop reporting are grouped by area and feeder or pressure zone, so staff can tell a single failed meter from a wider problem.
• Rate configuration: Tiered, seasonal, time-of-use and fixed charges set up from your approved rate schedules, with effective dates and version history.
• Rate impact testing: Run a proposed rate against past usage to see its effect on bills by customer class before it goes to your governing body.
• Bill run review: Bills that differ sharply from the account's history are held for review before the run is approved and issued.
• Customer portal: Customers see daily or hourly usage, bills and alerts, set alert preferences and pay through your processor's payment page.
• Account history: Every read, estimate, adjustment, bill and payment on one account timeline, for disputes and audits.
• Exception queues: Validation failures, held bills and detection flags in work queues by type and age, with reason codes for each outcome.
• Field work orders: Meter checks, repairs and leak visits created from an exception or alert and sent to your work order system.
• Assistance programs: Discounts, payment plans and assistance program enrollments applied to accounts under the rules your utility sets.
• Audit trail: Every rate change, read edit, estimate, adjustment and bill run recorded with who did it and when.

Integrations

• Meter head-end systems: Interval and register reads, meter events and communication status from your AMI or AMR head-end systems, mapped during implementation.
• Existing customer information system: Where you keep your current billing system, the Hub can send validated usage to it instead of rating bills itself.
• Payment processor: Payments are taken on your processor's payment page and posted to the account. Moraph does not hold funds or store card details.
• Financial system: Billed revenue, adjustments and payments posted to your general ledger.
• Work order and asset management: Field checks, meter repairs and leak visits sent to your work order system, with the outcome returned.
• GIS: Service locations, pressure zones and feeders from your GIS, so flags can be viewed and grouped on a map.
• Bill print and notification: Bill files sent to your print vendor, and email or text notices for bills and alerts through your chosen provider.
• Single sign-on: Staff sign in through your identity provider (SAML or OpenID Connect); customers use portal accounts with two-step verification.

Deployment

• Moraph cloud: Hosted by Moraph in the United States region.
• Dedicated environment: Single-tenant hosting for utilities whose policies require it, scoped in the proposal.
• Alongside your billing system: Used for meter data validation, detection and the customer portal, sending validated usage to the billing system you keep.
• With a managed service: Optionally run with a Moraph managed service for rate changes, feed monitoring and platform administration.

Security and privacy

• Separate access for customers and staff: Customers see only their own accounts; staff see what their role allows.
• Staff single sign-on: Staff sign in through your identity provider, so your own sign-in and multi-factor policies apply.
• Encryption and keys: Meter, account and billing data is encrypted, with keys Moraph staff cannot use without explicit, time-bound authorization.
• No card data held: Payments are taken on your processor's payment page. Moraph does not store card details, hold funds or move money.
• Audit trail: Every read edit, estimate, rate change, adjustment and bill run recorded with who made it and when, and cannot be edited.
• US hosting and assurance: Hosted in Moraph's United States region, under the controls covered by Moraph's SOC 2 Type II report and ISO/IEC 27001 certification.

Limitations

• The Hub does not install, read or operate meters or their communication network. It uses the data your head-end systems provide.
• It does not control the water or electric network, and it is not an outage management or SCADA system. Outage flags are based on meters losing contact and need confirmation by your operators.
• Leak and tampering flags are indications for staff to review, not findings. Detection depends on read frequency and data quality.
• Rates are set by your governing body. The Hub applies the rates you configure; it does not design or approve them.
• Moraph does not hold funds, take payments or store card details. Payments go through your payment processor.
• Disconnection, collections and deposit decisions are made by your staff under your policies and any rules that apply to your utility.
• Gas metering and wholesale energy settlement are not included.
• Customer usage and alerts in the portal are only as current as the reads delivered by your head-end systems.

Next steps

Book a demonstration or a technical briefing at www.moraph.com/solutions/smart-utility-metering-and-billing-hub. Purchasing routes and company information: www.moraph.com/how-to-buy.